


Second Season: Father Of The Wolf

by Ulfrsmal



Series: Wynne's Wolfish Wonders [2]
Category: EXO (Band)
Genre: (aka a character has a phobia of birds), A Character Has PTSD, Alternate Universe, Angst, Animal Death, Biting, Blood, Dystopia, Fighting, Fluff, Hurt/Comfort, M/M, Marking, Martial Arts, Mating, Multi, Ornithophobia, Pain, Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder - PTSD, The Scenes Fade To Black, Violence, Watch The Author Avoid The Word "Straight" In A Gay Sex-Scene, Wounds, animal cruelty, mentions of gore, mentions of sex but not explicit at all
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-02-08
Updated: 2020-02-08
Packaged: 2021-02-28 05:08:38
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,766
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22618396
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Ulfrsmal/pseuds/Ulfrsmal
Summary: In a society where Wolves are frowned upon and casted out, the twelve-member Wolfpack and their four dogs find themselves in possession of some curious weapons that could bring their Human members into an even battlefield with their Wolf counterparts.Meanwhile, the Government’s witch-hunt against all shapeshifting Wolves rages on, stronger than ever, forcing their Wolfpack away. Now thrown into a continent known only by a small portion of their pack-members, an old relationship arises for their most bittersweet leader…[Note: updates will be inconsistent, but they will happen. Please bear with me as I plan this fic appropriately! Thank you for your patience and understanding!]
Relationships: Huang Zi Tao | Z.Tao/Kim Jongin | Kai, Kim Junmyeon | Suho/Wu Yi Fan | Kris, Kim Minseok | Xiumin/Lu Han
Series: Wynne's Wolfish Wonders [2]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1437496
Comments: 2
Kudos: 13





	Second Season: Father Of The Wolf

**Author's Note:**

> DISCLAIMER: The sexuality and fantasies of all OT12 members are their own affairs only, anything in-fic is my own invention with no real-life basis. The cities/states/government are completely fictional; and I do not intend them to be modern-day Korea, China, nor any other country. This fic is entirely fiction; everything stated in it regarding real people does not reflect reality.
> 
> This fic’s title comes from: [Father Of The Wolf, by Amon Amarth](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5ZtrisP6Dmc).
> 
> Series with a similar, but not identic, background to the main storyline: Wolf’s Rain (anime series).
> 
> HEED THE TAGS, THIS IS AN EXPLICIT WORK. I don’t police what people read, because Gods know I would’ve read this at 13, but please be conscious that this piece of fiction contains EVERYTHING stated in the tags. Specific trigger warnings can be found in the notes at the start of each chapter.
> 
> Trigger Warnings: everything stated in the tags (that’s why the tags are a couple kilometres long; better be safe than sorry!).

Kris stood as tall as he was, one hand leant on the wall by his side as he looked to the distant horizon. The sun was just starting to set, tinting the sky with a soft pallet that Kris wasn’t indifferent to. He would’ve loved to linger around, if only to watch such a stunning view from every possible angle – alas, there were more urgent matters right then.

Things like getting their Wolfpack to a safer place.

They’d avoided yet another Governmental patrol not even two hours before; Kris could sense that Tao’s instincts were burning him from the inside out. He, along the other Wolves sans for Kris himself, had been restless ever since that close encounter. Not even the housedogs were immune to their lupine moods – Monku was much less curious than usual, Janku couldn’t stop walking in between Baekhyun’s legs (and annoying him), and Janga was constantly nervous.

In a way, those three dogs resembled their owner. Kai was just as jumpy, double-checking every corner they came across. Kyungsoo had tried to reassure him that nothing was wrong, that they would make it out alive; but he hadn’t been successful thus far. Kris gave them a thoughtful look, his eyes darkened more by his emotions than by the dimming sunlight backlighting him. Vivi trotted up to Kai and nuzzled against his leg, as if trying to calm him down.

Baekhyun and Chen were just as nervous too, though they hid it much better than Chanyeol and Sehun did. Suho ran his hand up and down Sehun’s back, the gesture much more comforting because Suho was one of their father figures.

Somehow, Kris and Suho had ended up as their Wolfpack’s parental role-models. As endless as Baekhyun’s teasing was about it, such a fact surprised absolutely nobody – Suho had occupied that role basically since meeting the kids for the first time; and Kris was his partner. It made sense to include Kris in that consideration, too.

“Are we safe now?” Luhan asked, sniffling the air. His desire to change forms was loud and clear – it was also a bad move to pull in the middle of the street, like Yixing had been reminding him about. Xiumin and Tao were racked by the same desire, Suho noted before answering him with a small nod. “How can you say that so easily?! We’re still in this fucking country!”

“The country isn’t the problem, the Government is.” Kyungsoo pointed out, his baritone voice booming just enough in the cool air for the dogs’ ears to flutter. Evidently, they weren’t so keen on the idea. Kyungsoo noticed them easily, because he’d learnt how to notice his surroundings years ago, “Don’t give me that look. At least we were able to leave the city…”

“And that’s good.” Kris interjected before anybody else could protest. “We just need to find a place to lay low in tonight. And we also need to start investigating the safest route out of this country.”

“Where the hell do you want us all to go?!” Baekhyun’s voice boomed louder than he should’ve kept his volume as. Sehun flinched, narrowly missing how Vivi had imitated him.

“We already have a plan about that.” Suho leant a gentle hand on Baekhyun’s left shoulder, offering him a small smile at the same time. It was hardly enough to make any of them fell safe, but it was _something_. And, as Yixing had said not even half an hour ago, something was always better than nothing. “One continent over sounds like a good plan, doesn’t it?”

“Only if we don’t encounter more trouble there.” Chanyeol mumbled from where he’d knelt down to scratch Janga behind the ears. The dog seemed to be smiling, rejecting nervousness in favour of being cared for. Kai watched them both and hitched his bag’s strap further up his shoulder, until he could almost feel it burn against his neck – the cans of dog food he’d brought with him were the heaviest item within his bag. He tuned in to the conversation just as Chanyeol said, “I know you Wolves all come from there, but –”

“Not all.” Xiumin’s voice was soft, ripe with contained emotions. His understated nature was a good fit for this clandestine life, Chen mused in silence. It was almost odd to hear Xiumin speaking out loud, because he’d been just as silent as Chen himself since that fateful night – since leaving their hometown. “I was born here, remember?”

“Oh.” Chanyeol’s mouth remained in that shape long before he’d spoken. Janga nuzzled his nose against his bent knee, demanding more pets. Chanyeol complied. There was nothing better to do, anyway.

“So where are we going now?” Luhan growled. His restlessness was easy to see and easier to accuse him of. Still, no Human in their Wolfpack would be as stupid as to do that – Luhan’s small frame hid very sharp fangs and a need to fight whoever spoke ill of him or Xiumin.

“There.” Tao moved towards the entrance of a badly illuminated alleyway. In his way, he almost nudged Kai in the shoulder – nobody needed Tao to say anything else to recognise his battle instincts burning him from the inside out.

“What’s in there?” Kai asked him, figuring he was the best candidate to probe at whatever was going on inside Tao’s mind.

“Safeness.”

Baekhyun and Chanyeol exchanged a look. Then, they called Janku and Monku to their sides, and started to follow Tao. The rest of their Wolfpack did the same, already knowing that Tao’s Wolfish senses had caught something that the rest of them could not yet detect.

A colourful curse by Kris brought their collective attention to the fact that the alleyway was narrow – which was a pain, because it meant that only two men could go through shoulder-to-shoulder at a time. Or, in the case of Kris, he alone – much to the amusement of Suho, who kept one hand on Kris’ back as if to soothe his emotional pain.

Yixing stayed at the back, because all the other Wolves and dogs had gone first. Besides, he wanted to make sure that every Human was okay; and that sentiment included Chen, who had stayed behind too. Yixing acted like he hadn’t noticed how Chen had glanced at his phone’s lock-screen, undoubtedly awaiting any message that couldn’t come for as long as he remained without an Internet connection.

That was one of the first things they’d done, because the Humans’ workplaces had their phone numbers in their workers’ personal files. Any tech-savvy person with enough high identifications to their name could obtain those files directly from the employers and track their Wolfpack down. Kyungsoo had even gone so far as to remove the battery from his phone before keeping both parts within separate pockets. Suho had deemed that a bit excessive, had even said so himself – and then he’d turned his phone off, because a turned off phone couldn’t be tracked, as far as he knew.

“You’ve been close to me all day.”

Yixing blinked and looked to his right. Chen wasn’t looking at him; his gaze was glued to Sehun’s broad back in front of him. Baekhyun was walking right by Sehun’s side, giving him some conversation – and looking tiny by comparison to Sehun’s broader shoulders.

“Do you mind it?” Yixing asked, keeping his volume low. This conversation was only between himself and Chen; there was no need to raise his voice to allow Baekhyun to catch their words. Especially because, as lovable as he was, he was also quite nosy and loved to tease others – it was almost strange that he couldn’t handle any teasing directed at him.

“It’s okay.” Chen gave him a sideways smile. His eyes gleamed under the dimmed light – Yixing noted that the rays illuminating Chen came from a second-floor window’s reflection. “I don’t mind it. I just don’t need a nanny.”

“I never said you do.” Yixing frowned slightly, lips pursing as he spoke. Such a gesture looked out of place in his factions, but it was alright, because it made Chen smile.

“I know. I…” Chen glanced in front of him, checking where Sehun, and especially Baekhyun, were. Baekhyun scurried underneath Sehun’s raised arm, sprinting ahead with the same giddy curiosity of a young explorer. Yixing’s smile marked a single dimple; the sight had immediately reminded him of a Wolf-cub. “… I appreciate your concern. _Their_ concern. But I’m fine. Really. I am.”

Yixing looked back to Chen, ready to dispute that – his proof were the dark circles under Chen’s equally dark eyes, letting the entire world know that he hadn’t been sleeping properly. And his shoulders were slumped as he walked, too, bag slung over one shoulder with carelessness even though his computer was in it. All things considered, Yixing could only conclude that this was absolutely _not_ the same person he’d met back at his flower’s apartment.

… his ex-flower, Yixing immediately corrected himself.

And then he blamed himself for having irrupted so violently in their cosy, loving lives.

“Ah, here we are!”

Yixing looked up upon hearing those words, spoken in Chanyeol’s boomingly low tone. Yixing supposed he was more baritone than true bass, since Kris’ voice was slightly lower when his instincts were close to overtaking him. But such details were completely irrelevant right then; the important thing was that Tao had been right (as per usual), and that he’d led their Wolfpack to a safe place to stay the night.

The building wasn’t nearly as ruinous as their hideout in Suho’s city had been, which was a welcomed change for the Humans in their Wolfpack – they were more used to comfortable mattresses than the Wolves were. It was almost depressing to think about it, because it brought to mind all the poor living conditions that these Wolves had had to live through.

Kyungsoo’s mouth opened just slightly, as if he were in awe, when he noticed the building’s tall roof. It resembled a pagoda of old, though much more like those used as backgrounds for romantic scenes in contemporary dramas than like the ones in historical dramas. There were little holes and missing tiles everywhere on the pointed roof – Luhan looked up when a tiny sparrow chirped indignantly at them, probably for invading their home.

Thankfully for Yixing’s sanity, nobody noticed how Xiumin leant a hand on his back – Yixing’s reaction of taking a step back as soon as he’d noticed the birds overhead.

“Damnit.” Suho cursed after he’d tried to open the wooden front doors. There was a sturdy lock sealing them closed – it didn’t budge an inch when Kris tried his hand at it, either. “It’s such a perfect spot, in the outer rim of this town… we wouldn’t be noticed here.”

Kai giggled uncontrollably at the mention of an “outer rim”. Tao was too nervous to giggle with him, which saved him from receiving the same smack upside the head as Kai did – courtesy of Kyungsoo, who acted on behalf of Suho, because Suho was too soft to smack them himself.

“Nice hit!” Xiumin complimented Kyungsoo, smoothly appearing by his side as if he’d never been standing at Yixing’s flank.

“Thank you.” Kyungsoo _smiled_ at Xiumin, which surprised half the Wolves and all of the Humans – Kyungsoo’s aloofness was already legendary.

“Lemme try, _mom_.” Baekhyun was the first to break the silence with a half-biting remark aimed at Suho. Kris rolled his eyes at them both in a fashion that he’d undoubtedly picked up from Baekhyun himself.

“Where did you even get those?!” Kai asked his brother as he procured a pair of chopsticks from the bag slung over his shoulder. “Did you really bring them with you?”

“Yeah!” Baekhyun answered with a chirpy note. His smile was wide and roguish. “Nobody knows when they’ll come in handy. Imagine us now if I hadn’t brought them!”

That was a good point, the Wolves admitted – albeit silently, because Baekhyun’s ego didn’t need more stroking. Baekhyun knelt by the heavy lock and inspected it closely, his expression morphing into one of pure concentration. His whole demeanour shifted in a matter of seconds, drawing Luhan’s full attention to him. The Wolf was so absorbed by the sight that he almost jumped out of his own skin when Janka passed right in between his legs. Xiumin snickered, amused by his moon – and promptly received a fulminating glare.

Time passed slowly to Tao, but it passed too quickly for Yixing’s taste. The little sparrows on the pagoda roof chirped at them cautiously, almost in warning. Janga eyed a brown flurry as it flew from the roof to a nearby tree, slipping in between two low-hanging branches to disappear from their view. Yixing swallowed, unease taking root deep within his belly.

He didn’t know how he would survive. He wondered how much the Wolfpack really cared about him – they wouldn’t lead him into danger’s wings on purpose, would they…?

A hand landed heavily on his left shoulder.

Yixing turned in an instant, aided by those instincts that never burnt in his veins.

“Done!”

Chen was smiling at him.

“Good job, Baekhyun!”

Yixing could only peripherally hear Suho’s voice complimenting a younger pack-member.

“Let’s go in for tonight.”

Kris’ bass tone brought Yixing back into the present. He slowly started to move only when Chen did, too.

Suho stayed outside until almost everybody was inside the pagoda – Kris had done the same, displaying the protectiveness that made him such a good leader. Suho gave him a warm look and a sideways smile. Kris arched one eyebrow, asking for confirmation – was he reading Suho correctly, or…?

“What are you two waiting for? It’s gonna frost tonight!”

Kyungsoo had a small gripe with Luhan’s words, but he quickly decided against wording it. Luhan wasn’t speaking in his mother tongue, nor in the language of Wolves; some grammatical errors were to be expected. It was honestly astonishing that he’d picked a whole another language up as easily as he had – Sehun always remarked, quite slyly, that Xiumin had had something to do with that.

“Coming.” Kris replied in the plainest tone Chanyeol had ever heard from him. it made him stare at Kris, eyes as opened as his mouth, bag on the floor. Chanyeol did not own a PC, which explained why he could easily be _this_ careless with his bag. “Damn, this place is empty…”

“Well, what did you expect? It _is_ abandoned…” Xiumin replied, sounding amused – the smirk on his face was wry, and almost enough to earn himself an obvious eye-roll from Sehun.

“Oh, shut up.” Baekhyun groaned from where he was kneeling on the floor, his opened bag between his legs. He had one hand stuffed deep in it, most likely moving his things around to fit the chopsticks back inside. “It’ll be enough for tonight, right?”

“Yes.” Tao replied. He’d found a perch by a sealed-off window, and was currently trying to look out from in between the wooden tabs used to close it permanently. There wasn’t enough light coming in from outside to illuminate the pagoda – something which explained why Kai turned on the lantern in his phone. “You’ll empty your battery, babe.”

Kai gave him a pout – and promptly stopped when Monku started crowding him, begging him for food. Janka and Janku quickly joined their brother, sniffling at Kai’s bag like they could smell the dogfood within it. Kai gasped, tossed and turned – he also started several different sentences along the way, but was unable to finish any of them.

In the end, Xiumin and Sehun contained the goldens while Kai got their food. A happy bark signalled their excitement right before they started to gulp their food down. It was quite comical to see Kai struggling to close his bag before any of his goldens, or Vivi, could hunt any more dogfood. Vivi huffed, indignant, and pit-patted right back to Sehun’s side. Luhan teased Sehun about the “idiotic grin on his face” while he fed Vivi – Sehun retaliated only with an unamused stare, looking like he was already planning his revenge.

Kyungsoo saw the stress accumulating on Suho’s face the longer the teasing went on. He knew it was perfectly innocuous, that no fight would ever break out amongst their Wolfpack – least of all for such an unimportant thing – and yet there were deepening creases on Suho’s forehead. Kyungsoo was still some steps away from Suho when he opened his mouth to speak, already planning on keeping his own volume lower that his brothers’ ruckus.

Something passed in between Kyungsoo’s legs, destabilising him. He fell forward. Suho shouted. A cacophony of exclamations followed them as they fell.

They both landed on a pile of limbs on the floor.

“Ouch… Are you okay, Kyungsoo?”

“I think so…”

“Then get up and off him!” Luhan interjected. He seemed quite nervous, rocking back and forth on his feet. Kai extended a hand towards him, probably wanting to calm him down. Luhan immediately _jumped_ on the opposite direction. “Don’t you _touch me_!”

“Sorry!” Kai exclaimed immediately after being shouted at.

In the blink of an eye, Tao appeared in between Kai and Luhan. His posture wasn’t aggressive, but everybody knew that he wouldn’t back down either. Tao was just too loyal to those he cared about – and Tao’s loyalty towards his boyfriend evidently weighed more than the respect that Tao owed to Luhan by virtue of being younger.

“Knock it off. _Everybody_.” Kris sounded so impossibly exhausted that nobody had the heart to tease him for “being the adult”, as Baekhyun would’ve put it. “Kyungsoo and Suho, you both alright?”

“Yes.” Kyungsoo had gotten up at some point during the riffraff – the tension in the air was so thick that Kyungsoo felt like he could physically cut it with a knife. “Sorry, Suho.”

“It’s okay.” Suho smiled, let Kris pull him to his feet. The Wolf only needed to use one hand to do so; Baekhyun stared at him with what could only be described as envy in his dark eyes. “Ah, damnit…”

“That’s a mess.” Chanyeol made a face and contained Janga when he tried to go closer to Suho’s bag. Its contents were spilt all over the floor, the bag itself upside down – a product of Kyungsoo colliding with him. “What made you trip anyway?”

“Her.” Kyungsoo looked to Vivi. Any other man would’ve glared; Sehun was glad Kyungsoo knew perfectly well how to rein his impressive temper in.

And, to his credit, Sehun didn’t try to defend Vivi – maybe he’d noticed Xiumin nodding wisely while Kyungsoo accused Vivi.

“No use crying over it now.” Suho knelt again, by his bag this time, and started to gather his belongings. “I’ll just tidy things up. Meanwhile, we should divide the space up and go to bed.”

“… to “ _bed_ ”.” Chen repeated. He’d been silent for so long that he attracted quite the number of stares. He raised one eyebrow, as if challenging those stares. They stopped. “There’s no real beds here!”

A tiny _chirp_ from above agreed with him. Yixing darted behind the person closest to him.

“I don’t even care.” Kris declared, pointedly bringing all attention away from the Wolf hiding behind his broad back. “I’ll just change forms and call it a day.”

“Wait, what’s – Monku, _NO!_ ”

All attention was brought back to the other side of the room, where Kai was trying his damnedest to wrestle a folder out of Monku’s jaws. Luhan couldn’t contain the snicker that left his lips – to his credit, though, he did try to stifle it by covering his mouth with a pale hand. Xiumin gently nudged his moon to get him to stop; it worked only halfway.

“Where did you get this?!” Kai asked Monku.

The golden let out a vexed _gruff_ and seemed to frown. Kris’ eyebrows shot up – like dog, like owner, he supposed. By his right side, Baekhyun and Chanyeol emitted twin giggles.

“Wait a second, that’s mine!”

Suho advanced towards Kai and gently took the folder from his hands. It was a bit bitten on one side, which caused it to bend concave at an odd angle – its spine, however, was still straight. Suho moaned and groaned, causing a hot flash to run down Kris’ spine even though this was absolutely _not_ the time for that. Oblivious to his internal struggles, Suho opened the folder, wanting to assess the damage that Monku’s fangs had done.

“What even _is_ that, Suho?” Chanyeol asked while he took a couple steps closer to Suho. He canted the folder downwards to let Chanyeol read the short title written in black, typographic characters. “Pro… ject… a… adu… adul… _ARGH_!”

“Oh, sorry!” Suho mumbled. At the same time, he rotated the whole folder – he’d suddenly realised that Chanyeol had been trying to read it upside-down. Perhaps to cover his mishap, he kept talking, “It’s just a thing I took form work a little while before we left town. I hadn’t read it until now, to be honest… I just wanted to inconvenience them!”

“Nice job.” Xiumin gave him a sly smile and a knowing look. It was impossible to tell if he was being sarcastic or not – Suho chose to take his words as genuine, whereas Sehun took them as downright irony.

“Okay, so can we read them now?” Kai asked. Monku let out a grumpy _gruff_ , but Kai’s hold on him didn’t relent. “Oi, stop moving, please! I can’t let you eat that!”

Janga swung a paw onto Monku’s flank from one side. Monku groaned at him – then Janku swung his own paw onto Monku’s opposite side, and Kai couldn’t contain any of them anymore.

“OI!”

The three dogs almost made him tumble down onto the ground when they took off at the same exact time. A small, light brown Wolf joined their games easily – Kai’s mouth hung open at how readily his three dogs accepted their playmate. Sure, this was not the first time the Wolves had joined the goldens, but Kai was always impressed. He’d always assumed that any and every dog would have more than one reserve about wolves, and especially about Wolves, and yet…

“Seems they’re havin’ fun.” Baekhyun pointed out when a black-and-white Wolf joined the games. “Damnit, I wanna play too!”

“You can still join us.” Xiumin tapped Baekhyun’s arm lightly and moved towards the playmates. At some point before Baekhyun could answer, Xiumin changed forms and jumped over Tao. He landed right by Janka’s side – and was immediately welcomed into whatever game they were playing.

“As if!” Despite his words, Baekhyun still looked eager to join them.

Yixing reappeared from behind Kris, still looking kind of weary. The chirping had stopped; the birds on the roof were probably too asleep or too afraid by the canine ruckus. Silently, shakenly, he walked towards the Wolves and knelt by Janga. Xiumin instantly appeared by Yixing’s side, tail wiggling as if he were a common housedog. Yixing raised a hand to pet Monku – because, in Human or Wolf form, Xiumin was still older than him.

That sight was all the encouragement Baekhyun needed to jump into the games with Chanyeol and Kai in tow. Sehun didn’t seem so convinced – but then Vivi butted his calf with her head and walked towards Luhan, who greeted her like any other dog would have. Sehun, appalled yet intrigued, quickly moved closer to them with a grumbled “that is _not_ how you treat a lady”.

Suho sighed his deepest sigh of the day. Kris leant a hand on the middle his back, quietly giving him moral support. They both loved their Wolfpack’s members on equal measures – they were _family_ – but they could _really_ be too much sometimes. Kyungsoo sympathised with them by gently taking the folder from Suho’s hands, almost as if he was symbolically alleviating Suho of his burdens.

“I need a break…” Suho grumbled, pinching the bridge of his nose and closing his eyes.

“You’ll have one.” Kris replied. “I’ll take care of them tonight.”

“Thank you…”

Suho sounded so exhausted that Chen walked closer to them too, concern painted clear on his angular features.

“Rest, Suho. I think we’ll survive one night on our own.”

“You’re absolutely _not_ on your own.” Kris quickly replied, looking only at Chen – he was taken aback by how he didn’t refer to Suho as “mom” anymore. To tell the truth, nobody had referred to Suho by that name ever since they’d left the town. Initially, Kris had taken it as a sign that they were leaving their past behind; but now…

“This is a war project.” Kyungsoo’s voice carried so much alarm that Suho, Kris, and Chen looked at him just as worriedly.

For a moment, Kyungsoo only turned page after page, reading the text diagonally to get the general gist of it. Suho didn’t pressure him into speaking up – a firm hand on Kris’ hip ensured that he didn’t, either – and Chen was just too gentle for that thought to have even crossed his mind.

“This is a war project.” Kyungsoo repeated, so uncharacteristically that Suho felt his worry skyrocket. “It mentions that the Government is creating weapons for Humans to fight Wolves with…” He turned a page backwards to find the exact words used, “…to capture them unconscious yet alive.”

“… “ _yet_ ”, alive?” Kris noticed instantly. “That sounds like they want us dead.”

“They do.” Chen offered him a grave look and a sympathetic smile. “Thankfully, we’re leaving this place.”

“Not without these weapons.” Kyungsoo turned the folder to show a spreadsheet to Suho and Kris. Chen took a step closer to the Wolf so that the edge of the folder didn’t obstruct his own vision. Kris didn’t really acknowledge him, but Chen could see how his muscles had tightened for a split second. “If we get them, those men chasing us won’t be able to use them.”

“Too risky.” Chen gave his two cents before Kris or Suho could – they were both too busy examining the diagram in the spreadsheet. “I assume they’re being kept at the maximum security-level, right? We can’t exactly enter those facilities all guns blazing!”

“No need to.” Suho took the folder and turned a couple of pages. “Aha…! Look here.”

“ _These_ we _apons are currently undergoing careful research at various facilities in the province of…_ ” Kris started reading steadily – his tone wavered more and more the longer he went on – until he just stopped. “The province of what? I don’t know how to read that.”

“I’m not surprised.” If Kris felt wounded by Kyungsoo’s remark, he didn’t say. It had been a logical assumption, anyway; Kris’ mother tongue wasn’t the one that the report had been written in. It was expected for him to struggle, even if only slightly, when trying to read it. Especially due to the highly technical language used all throughout – leaving aside the diagrams and numbers, of course. “To clarify, it’s where we are now.”

A pregnant pause. Suho and Kris exchanged a look. Chen knew it to be the one they shared when deciding something crucial to their Wolfpack. Kyungsoo stayed right where he was, utterly silent – he knew better than to interrupt those two when they were thinking.

“… we could go take a look.” Suho suggested, drawing every word out until he almost sounded slurred. “If security is too tight, we bolt out of there.”

Kris’ silence spoke deafeningly loudly.

“I-I just think that we should give it a chance.” Suho tried again, slowly losing his confidence along the way. Kyungsoo stared at Kris with an unblinking gaze, too soft to be a true stare yet just as focused. Chen seemed to be staying out of their troubles – Suho both respected and was annoyed by it. At least Chen wasn’t rowing against, he supposed. “We could gain the upper hand from it!”

“Or get ourselves killed.” Kris replied in a stern tone. Suho swallowed around his nerves.

“It’s three against one.” Kyungsoo spoke gently enough to not ruffle Kris’ feathers even more. “We could check it out from afar at first, too.”

“ _At first_.” Kris repeated, his voice practically a growl.

A tense silence followed his words. Chen reached out to Suho and Kyungsoo, one hand leant on each of their arms. Kris recognised it as the quietest “let it be” that he had ever witnessed – his respect for Chen grew somehow. There was definitely something to be appreciated in how easily this man stayed away from trouble. The same something that made Kris sigh out deeply before speaking up again, the growl gone.

“Alright. Let’s check out these Adularias.”


End file.
